


Out With The Ordinary

by ariel_manto



Category: The Worst Witch (TV 2017)
Genre: And so do I, Fireworks, Hecate hates loud noises, the jumpiest witch, what even is this fluffiness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:06:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28462845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ariel_manto/pseuds/ariel_manto
Summary: Hecate spends NYE with Julie and Mildred. There are fireworks. It gets soft.
Relationships: Hardbroom/Julie Hubble
Comments: 2
Kudos: 24





	Out With The Ordinary

**Author's Note:**

  * For [heathtrash](https://archiveofourown.org/users/heathtrash/gifts).



> I wrote this super fast and while distracted by just fireworks, please be nice.

It is not even dark yet when the first crack tears through the relative peace in the Hubble flat. At first, Julie puts Hecate’s reaction down to heightened nervousness, brought on by it being their first social gathering away from the school grounds, as well as Mildred’s presence, not as her student but as the daughter of a woman with whom she is, possibly, starting a relationship.  
That must be the reason Hecate seems on edge, and why she jumps approximately a foot and a half into the air as the first firework of the evening goes off somewhere in the neighbourhood.   
But as the night progresses and their visitor appears to, at least by her own standards, relax, the effect of the noises doesn’t lessen.   
While Mildred has to stifle a laugh as the witch who is usually scolding her for her clumsiness, spills her drink for the second time, to Julie, there is nothing funny about the look in Hecate’s eyes as she casts a drying spell on the mess. She looks like she’d like nothing more than to join Tabby under the bathtub, where he has taken up residence for the foreseeable future.

“Is this… Witches don’t really do fireworks, then?”  
Julie reaches a hand out to gently cup Hecate’s, which is clenched into a fist in what she has come to recognise as a sign that the witch is about to shut down.

“Not that I am aware of - I… I assume by “fireworks” you mean this noise? I must admit I don’t… quite see the point.” 

“Yeah, well, the noise is more of a by-product, I guess, I think it’s more the colours people like, or actually, maybe they like the noise of it. People like to make themselves known, feel important, that kind of thing, especially when it’s “new year; new you” and all that. I don’t know, I’m kind of rambling…”

Julie does find herself trying to justify things she’s never thought about before rather frequently lately. It’s not just witching customs that seem odd to outsiders.  
As she mentions the colours, Hecate turns her head to look out and this time both the time and the place is right and she catches a rain of green lights descending on the darkened houses. And while Julie thinks that a witch would surely be accustomed to far more spectacular displays, there is a look of wonder in Hecate’s eyes, and the tension in her hand releases for a few seconds until another explosion, the closest yet, has her nearly fall off the sofa. 

The balcony door opens and shuts almost immediately after, and Julie looks up to see Mildred hugging herself from the cold of what was definitely not an illicit broomstick ride, embarked upon when the adults were looking the other way. 

“It’s absolutely freezing out and it’s getting REALLY loud! I mean, it’s fun and all, but wow, people are taking it pretty far this year!”

She plops herself down in an armchair across from the two of them, reaches for the now almost empty box of Celebrations on the table and grimaces. “There’s only the coconut left”

“And whose fault is that?” Julie asks. “I’ll have those, I don’t mind them”

“yeah, after you ate all the other ones… Do you want any gross tropical chocolate, miss?”

Only then does Mildred take in her teacher’s rigid posture and the way she flinches, now at any sudden movement as well as the noises.   
She catches her mother’s eye and makes a subtle (for her) hand gesture. The effect is not immediately obvious, but as the minutes go past and there have been no more bangs from outside, Hecate looks up at Mildred who is very unconvincingly studiously reading a book and not at all looking at her, and smiles, a little. 

Turning again to look at the distant flashes of colour, she curls her fingers and as the light in the flat dims, the rain of lights from outside becomes mirrored on the living room walls.


End file.
